"Black Molly."
"Right!" and Royce's voice rang triumphantly. "Next: Who nailed the
board over the door? The ol' cedar board?"
"I did. Just before I went away."
"An'," continued Royce, his voice lowered a trifle, "an' what did you
say about it, Stevie? I was to know----"
"Coach him up! Tell him what to say, why don't you?" jeered Blenham.
"I don't think I need to," replied Royce quietly. "Do I, Steve?"
"I was pretty much of a kid then, Bill," said Packard, a half-smile
coming into his eyes for the first time, a smile oddly gentle. "I had
been reading one of the Arabian Nights tales; that's what put it into
my head."
"Go ahead, Steve; go ahead!"
"I said that I was going to seek my fortune up and down the world; that
the board above the door would be a sign if all went well with me.
That as long as I lived it would be there; if I died it would fall."
There was a little, breathless silence. It was broken by Bill Royce's
joyous laughter as Bill Royce's big hand smote his thigh.
"Right again, Steve! An' the ol' board's still there. Go look at it;
it's still there."
Again all eyes sought Blenham. For a moment he stood uncertain,
looking about him. Then abruptly he swept up his hat and went out.
And Barbee's laughter, like an evil echo of Royce's, followed him.
CHAPTER VI
BANK NOTES AND A BLIND MAN
"He'd as soon set fire to the hay-barns as not," said Royce.
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